my parents noticed my changing attitude and wondered how they could get me to cheer up. a year and a half before, i’d lost a beautiful russet-colored dachshund to the terrible parvo virus, and one day in september they told me that they knew someone who had a pregnant miniature dachshund. now, i know it sounds somewhat insensitive to just disregard the memory of a past dog, and replace it with the same thing, but… i needed a friend. at the time i already owned a cat that my father had given to me earlier that year as a valentine’s day gift. the cat was (and still is!) totally gorgeous and moody and smart and everything that makes a cat wonder, but a cat just won’t show you that same utter devotion that a dog will.

my lovely cat, caesar

so my parents told me about the preggers lady-dog and i was interested. dachshunds are great pets. they’re energetic, healthy, lively, small, fast, and clever. we went to speak to the breeder and she told us she was due at the end of september. sure enough, on the last day of the month, he called me to let me know she’d given birth to a beautiful, healthy-looking litter. of course, i couldn’t have one of the puppies right away. i would have to wait about a month and a half before i could take one home. i talked to a cousin of mine who, at the time, worked at a veterinary clinic, and he agreed to come check out the pups to see which one i should take home. when we got the chance, we did go take a look at the litter and i picked the cutest little thing. when he turned six weeks old around mid-november, i went back and brought him home.

yesterday was archie’s second birthday and i love him more than i ever thought i could, really. i love heading home and driving up my driveway where i can see him peeking out between the curtains of the living room windows, waiting for me to walk through that front door. he sleeps with me every night and i hate being away from him. sure, he’s annoying a lot of the time, and hearing him bark at imaginary bad guys drives me crazy, and he still has accidents, but i really do love him.

the day before yesterday, i took him to this really great park that just got set up a few blocks away from home. he and i were the only ones there so i got to take him off his leash and he went crazy. he was running around everywhere and climbing in the playground area. he’s so much bigger than the little runt i brought home almost two years ago, but i think he’s done growing. my little archie is just about the greatest dog anyone could ask for.

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